Nearly two decades after setting a world water-depth record for drilling and production, Shell’s Auger tension-leg platform is still playing a central and innovative role in the company’s deep water Gulf of Mexico portfolio - currently producing some 55,000 barrels oil equivalent (boe) per day (Shell share ~30,000 boe per day), and acting in the future as the host platform for the Cardamom subsea development.

The Cardamom discovery well also set records three years ago, for subsurface length and depth.

More than a half mile down, Shell is connecting Cardamom wells back to Auger — work that will involve retrofitting the platform and a production shut-in at Auger, which should restart in the fourth quarter of 2013. Once online in 2014, Cardamom (100% Shell share) is expected to produce at a peak rate of 50,000 boe per day.

“The Gulf of Mexico remains an important part of Shell’s portfolio and strategy, and it is expected to generate substantial growth over the next several years,” said John Hollowell, Executive Vice President for Deep Water, Shell Upstream Americas. “Cardamom is a great example of using existing infrastructure to increase oil and gas production in a less capital intensive way.”

In its lifetime, the Auger platform has produced more than 300 million boe.

Press Release, July 18, 2013; Image: Shell